Recipe For Chaos
by Higuchimon
Summary: [one-shot, Yu-Gi-Oh Pairings Challenge, Season 2, Round 7, Pegasus x Cyndia/Cyndia x Pegasus, Roseshipping] With the servants gone for the day, Pegasus wants to have a little fun in the kitchen, and Cyndia is, as always, with him.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters presented here and am not making any profit off of this whatsoever.  
**Title:** Recipe For Chaos  
**Word Count:** 4,902  
**Rated:** PG-13  
**Romance:** Pegasus x Cyndia  
**Notes:** This is set a few years before Yu-Gi-Oh canon begins and was written for the second season of the Yu-Gi-Oh Pairings Challenge. Comments and criticism gratefully accepted.  
**Summary:** With the servants gone for the day, Pegasus wants to have a little fun in the kitchen, and Cyndia is, as always, with him.

* * *

One of the many reasons Cyndia loved Pegasus so much was because of all the ideas that continually bubbled out of his brain. It was probably just as well that he didn't attend a normal high school, as he would have driven every teacher he had insane, and many of the ones he didn't have would have suffered as well. As it was, his tutors were replaced on a general three month schedule, to avoid that very peril.

But she loved it. She loved never knowing what he was going to come up with and never being sure of what could happen when she came over for a visit. Today's statement was one of a kind, even for Pegasus.

"You want to bake a cake? You want _us_ to bake a cake?" She just kept looking at him, still not entirely certain of if she'd heard him correctly.

"Of course! It would be a lot of fun to do it for ourselves. The servants have the day off and won't be there to get in the way." Pegasus told her cheerfully. "How hard can it be? Anthony does it all the time for Mother's parties."

Cyndia considered that for a few moments. Really, it did sound easy. Certainly, if Pegasus thought it could be done, it could be. He hadn't ever led her wrong before. Then something else crossed her mind.

"You know where the kitchen is? I've never been able to find ours." Her father's mansion wasn't all that large, really, but she'd never bothered to go looking for the kitchen. She presumed it was near the dining room, since the food served was always at the most perfect temperature, but she'd never actually been there.

Pegasus flashed a teasing grin at her. "You'd be surprised at what you can find when you need to hide from your father because you dyed all the servants' clothes chartreuse."

Cyndia blinked once or twice. "Chartreuse?"

"Yes." Pegasus shrugged as he started to lead her through the mansion's halls. "It really didn't look that good on them. I'll have to pick a better color next time. Or Father could hire servants who look better in something like that."

Somehow, she couldn't bring herself to be surprised at that. This _was_ Pegasus, after all. She hoped nothing would ever happen that would stop his beautiful and loveable insanity. She wanted to be there with him until they were both old, and still have him thinking up crazy jokes like that right up until the end.

The corridors turned from elegant marble and hung with priceless paintings to something a little more mundane as they drew nearer to the kitchen. They were still splendid, of course, but were now paneled in deep rich oak and the floors were covered by rugs that were still splendid, but not quite as expensive as the ones in the main hallways. These were rugs that could be easily cleaned or even replaced if they had to be in case of an accident, perfect for an area that might well _have_ accidents.

"Ah, here we are!" Pegasus stopped before a pair of doors and glanced back at her, all but glowing with mischief. "Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be to bake a cake." She wondered just what kind he had in mind. Was it going to be one of those ready made ones from a box? She hadn't ever had one before. Her parents prided themselves that nothing served on _their_ table came from something like that. It was always fresh made, or not at all. She'd heard some of the maids whispering about having to buy a quick cake like that for one of their children's birthdays, and it didn't sound all that hard to make.

But knowing Pegasus, he'd want to do something entirely different, and make it from scratch, just for the experience of it. Either one really suited her. Having it from a recipe might be somewhat more difficult, though.

Pegasus opened both of the doors at once, flinging them back with a very good impression of showman's flair. He had probably picked up on some of his growing flamboyant style from watching the showmen who performed at his father's casinos regularly, though she couldn't really see him being one of those when he grew up. He was just too much of a true artist.

"Behold! The Crawford kitchen!" He waved one hand imperially towards the gleaming appliances everywhere. Cyndia peered in carefully and curiously. For her first glimpse of a kitchen, this was a very impressive one. She could easily identify a stove, a large oven, a couple of refrigerators, what looked to be a very large freezer, and many other items. At Pegasus' motioned indication, she stepped inside, hardly knowing where to begin.

"So, what kind did you want to make?" Cyndia asked, wanting somewhere to start, and that appeared to be the best place.

Pegasus held up one finger for a moment, then began to dig into his pockets. His forehead creased as he searched first through one, then another, and she wondered if he'd actually lost whatever it was he was looking for. Then he pulled out a piece of paper from one pocket and flourished it triumphantly.

"I found this looking through one of the cookbooks," he said as he spread it out on the nearest countertop. She came over to look at it, brushing her hair back a little as she did. She caught sight of a flash of emotions through Pegasus' expressive eyes and smiled softly to herself. She could hardly wait for the next three years to pass. When they were eighteen and of legal age…her heart sped up just at the thought.

The recipe was entitled _Death By Chocolate_, and the instructions and list of ingredients did seem to be simple enough. Surely they couldn't mess it up that badly? There were even instructions underneath for how to make a frosting for it.

_I wonder what we should do with it after it's done. I don't know if his father would really approve of us doing this…_ Of course that hadn't stopped either of them if it was something they really wanted to do, be it borrowing the family car to go driving under the moonlight or exploring the rose gardens at any hour or the day or not or making plans to be a traveling artist and his living inspiration. Cyndia blushed at the very thought of the words. Pegasus had called her that so many times, and she wondered just how true it was. Surely he could paint without her there…

Pegasus ran a finger down the list thoughtfully. "Why don't you get the flour and the sugar? I'll see if I can find the rest of it."

Cyndia was almost offended. Surely he thought she could grasp four eggs or some baking soda! She smiled just a little as another thought came to her. Once she had the flour and sugar, and he was still trying to locate everything else, she would get those things. After all, the eggs had to be _easy_ to find. They would be…somewhere. She could find them after she found the flour.

But, first, to _find_ that flour. She started by opening various cabinet doors, figuring that had to be where everything was stored. The first three she tried contained only dishes and cups. _Quite_ a few dishes and cups. She'd attended more than a few dinners here, and had known just how many the Crawford family had, but she still hadn't _known_ until she couldn't stop finding them now.

Pegasus was rummaging around in some of the other cabinets that she hadn't checked yet, and she assumed the flour wasn't in any of them, since he hadn't said anything about it. He also didn't appear to be having any more luck finding what he was looking for than she was.

She opened another cabinet at last, and squealed to see several bags labeled flour sitting there. They were just a little out of her reach, but she stood up on her toes carefully and reached for one for one of the ones in the front. There was a light dusting of flour on the outside of it, but she paid little attention to that as she nudged the bag closer to her. It would fall neatly into her hands with just a slight little tug now.

Unfortunately, she must have tugged too hard, because the bag slipped over the side of the shelf and crashed onto the counter below, splitting open as it did so. She squealed as flour burst all over her, spattering her dress and hands with flour as she tried, and failed, to catch it in time. "Oh! Oh!"

Pegasus turned and stared for a moment. He didn't like to laugh at her, but there was just something so _amusing_ about the way she was staring down at the flour. A few giggles escaped before she turned to look at him, and he did his best to choke it off. "Oh…my dear…are you all right?" He wanted to keep laughing, but she would be well within her rights to storm out and never come back if he did.

"I've got flour on me." She stated, staring down at the mess. How in the world had this happened? The flour had just slipped through her fingers as if they weren't even there! Now there was this _disaster_ to deal with!

Pegasus came over and started to brush the flour off of her. Most of it had landed on the counter, though there was still a goodly amount on her dress and hands. "It's not that bad. A good shower will clean that up and the maid should be able to clean your dress very easily." He tried to sound as soothing as he could without letting the laugh he wanted to laugh out.

Cyndia sighed and tried to push together some of the flour that had landed on the counter. It was very literally clean enough to eat off of, so that didn't bother her. But she still wasn't happy about this. "At least I found the flour." And she would know to be more careful when she found the sugar. Cooking could be dangerous to one's clothing.

Pegasus went back to his search while she started to look around for the sugar. Luckily that wasn't as hard to find, as it was only one cabinet away from the flour, and close enough to the front so she could grasp it without it sliding through her fingers. She set the package down on the counter and eyed it warily for a moment, almost expecting it to suddenly spill itself like the flour had.

When it failed to do this for two minutes, she turned slightly towards Pegasus. "Where do they keep something to measure this in?"

"I don't know. I'm sure it's here somewhere, though." Pegasus waved a hand a little carelessly, bending over to search through one of the lower cabinets. He extracted a round container and cheered himself for it. He'd found the chocolate! He cracked open the top carefully and peered inside, finding a wealth of chocolate powder. It looked so tasty. He glanced over his shoulder to see Cyndia diligently hunting for the measuring tools, then looked back to the powder. It wouldn't hurt to take a little taste. He _so_ loved chocolate. One of his favorite pastimes, those few times when it was actually cold, was to sit curled up in his window seat with a cup of hot chocolate and the latest issues of _Funny Bunny_.

He set the container down on the counter, the top to one side, and yanked open drawers until he found a spoon. He also found the measuring cups, and smiled briefly. "Cyndia, dear. I think this is what you're looking for."

The smile he got in return was worth having held the laugh in all this time. Once she was busy measuring, he stole a spoon and scooped up a generous helping of the powder. This was going to be _blissful_. He darted his tongue out quickly for a quick taste before he simply shoved the spoon into his mouth and swallowed the powder.

Ah, the sweet, sweet taste of chocolate. He started to smile…and then what he was _actually_ tasting registered in his mind. He dropped the spoon, abandoning all pretense at elegance, and all but attacked the sink, scrambling for a glass and water. He drank quickly, spitting out the first mouthful, mixed with the powder, then did the same with the second. The third he swallowed a little more carefully, pursing his lips at the faintly revolting taste still there. What kind of _unholy_ poison had disguised itself as chocolate?

"Pegasus?" Cyndia stepped over towards him as he tried to choke the rest of it out of himself. "What's wrong?"

Pegasus flushed deeply at her gentle voice, then motioned towards the container. "Don't taste any of that. It's _vile_! I can't think of what they must have added to it to make it taste like that. If I didn't know better, I'd think it was poisoned!" The only thing that disinclined him towards that was the fact that no sane person working for his father would do this, and the Crawford hiring screens were more than good enough to stop someone crazy from being hired.

He glanced at the recipe again and this time saw a small word that he'd skimmed over before, not deeming it necessary. A single word, but it made all the difference: _unsweetened_. So that was the trouble. He glared briefly at the innocent container, then took another drink of water to clean his mouth out. "How are you doing with the flour and sugar?"

"I think I have it measured." She motioned back over to where she'd been, and he saw a neat row of tablespoons, each neatly filled with flour, and a cup filled to the brim with sugar. He also saw the increased mess that had resulted from what had to be her earliest attempts to get those containers filled up. The maids were going to have a lot to clean up. Oh, well, that was what they were paid for.

He glanced back at his own ingredients thoughtfully. He still needed to measure the poison…er, the unsweetened chocolate, and get out a few others. "You can get the eggs and the semisweet chocolate then. I think they'll be in the refrigerator. At least the eggs should be." He should've asked the cook for a map to the kitchen. Of course he hadn't really thought about doing this until after the cook was out for the day, so it had been a moot point regardless.

Cyndia nodded as he started to measure out the powder, then she looked around to find the refrigerator. Identifying it from all the other huge appliances, she pulled open the door and looked for eggs. She _did_ know what a egg looked like when it hadn't been fried or poached. After all, sometimes they were served boiled as well. The eggs were easy to find, since they were right in the door, and she carefully picked out four of them.

Once she had them, she closed the refrigerator and started over to the counter where she'd left the sugar and flour. She placed the eggs beside the cup of sugar and started to look around for the chocolate. She'd scarcely taken her eyes off of the eggs before there was a faint sound, and then a _splat_. She blinked, looking over at Pegasus first, then heard another splat, and this time, she felt something against her leg.

The eggs had fallen on the floor. Two of them, anyway, and a third was merrily rolling down the counter. She darted forward to grab it, and squealed angrily as it slid through her fingers and crashed onto the floor, splattering far and wide. Why was this happening? This was supposed to be _easy_, virtually anyone could do it, it was just _cooking_, but everything was falling and breaking and Cyndia did not want to do this anymore!

"Pegasus!" She almost snapped the words out. "I want to stop. This isn't fun."

Pegasus looked over at her, and saw what was wrong at once. He set the baking powder he'd located aside and came over. "It's all right, dear," he soothed her, wrapping his arms gently around her. It wasn't often that they actually touched like this, and he savored it. "You're just not used to it. That's all."

She didn't exactly sniffle, but she wasn't that far from it. How in the world could she be failing so badly at this? "I'm sorry." She apologized quietly. She didn't want to ruin Pegasus' fun, even though she wasn't enjoying herself at all. "How much longer will it be?"

"I think we can finish it soon. We almost have everything." He patted her on the hand and she dredged up a smile for him. "There. Now, I think maybe you just need something to hold the eggs in. Maybe one of those cups?" He motioned to one of the spare ones that appeared to have room enough for four eggs. "I think that would do."

She gulped slightly, then nodded. "All right." At least one egg had had the courtesy to remain on the counter, and she picked it up to put inside the cup before going to get three more. Once that was done, she hunted around until she'd managed to find the chocolate. Wary of what had happened when Pegasus had tasted some of that powder, she simply set it beside everything else she'd gathered and went to check the recipe again. There were only a few things to get now, and she was certain she could handle that while Pegasus had begun to get out bowls and mixing equipment.

Acquiring butter and sour cream was simplicity itself, after a few curious moments staring into the refrigerator, and she remembered seeing a few bottles labeled vanilla extract while she'd been looking for the flour and sugar. She picked one out and carefully opened it. _I wonder why they don't have anything already opened. Did they plan it that way, so there wouldn't be any leftovers or anything while they were gone?_

The vanilla extract smelled very good, and she sniffed at it for a moment, then glanced at Pegasus. He was busy over by the stove, rubbing at a pan with something she couldn't see all that clearly. She quickly dripped a few drops of the vanilla on her tongue, just enough so she could taste it.

As soon as she swallowed it, she stepped quickly to the sink and poured herself her own glass of water. It wasn't as vile as how Pegasus had described the chocolate, but it was enough that she didn't want the taste in her mouth any more than necessary.

"Is everything all right, dear?" Pegasus looked over his shoulder at her and she smiled winningly back at him. It still wasn't as fun as she'd hoped, but it was beginning to not be _as_ bad. Perhaps she was just getting used to it.

"Yes, everything's fine. What are you doing?"

He lifted one hand to motion at the pan before him. "Greasing the pan. This is what we're going to put the mix in once we have it."

"Oh. I knew that." A quick smile crossed her face. She had, really! She turned back to the ingredients she'd gathered. "Are we ready?"

"Almost." Pegasus finished getting the pan ready and double-checked on the temperature of the stove. By the time the mix was done, it would be pre-heated. He checked the list of instructions one more time, then carefully started to follow them to put everything together. It really wasn't as hard as he'd thought. Breaking the chocolate up wasn't that hard, and melting it and the butter together over the hot water only required two tries.

While he took care of that, Cyndia cracked the eggs, only spoiling one more of them in the process when most of the eggshell followed the yolk into the bowl she used, and added the sugar without spilling that much of it. Beating them together only caused a small amount of the mixture to decorate the counters. Adding the other dry ingredients ended up with a slightly larger mess, but Pegasus wasn't all that concerned with it. Again, it was what the maids were paid for.

Folding in the butter and chocolate mixture was actually accomplished without that much damage, unless one chose to count when the empty bowl, placed precariously on the counter as Cyndia tried to clean up some of the drippings, slipped off and broke neatly down the middle. Both of them agreed that putting sour cream into a _cake_ was obviously some kind of a bad joke on the part of whoever had come up with the recipe. Sour cream was for _potatoes_, for God's sake! Not for cakes!

The fact this statement came after they'd both tasted the cream was meaningless, of course. Pegasus made a mental note that once they had their own household, there would _never_ be sour cream served with anything there. If Cyndia had known of this, she would have agreed completely.

"Now, it has to bake for almost an hour," Pegasus noted, checking the list again. He closed the oven door and looked at everything they had accomplished. There were remnants of pre-cake batter, as well as the batter itself, on at least two different counters as well as the floor. They had to keep skipping around broken eggs and flour also, not to mention the broken bowl they'd picked up and put to one side.

Really, it was much more successful than he'd ever thought it would be. Now they just had to think of something to do for an hour until the cake was done.

"I think we can sit down until then," Pegasus decided. "There's a parlor just down the hall. Mother doesn't use it since it's so close to the kitchens, so the servants have taken it over for the most part."

Cyndia nodded, brushing some of the faint remains of flour off of her hands. She was going to have to have a hot bath to really get it all disposed of, though. "I don't think we should go too far from the cake. It could burn." She glanced curiously at the oven, and wondered if it would be possible to have an oven that turned off completely when the cooking was done, to end the risk of burning. Perhaps someone could invent one someday.

She followed Pegasus to the mentioned parlor and was not surprised at all to find it very plush and well-kept, as was proper. There was a large television on one side of the room and several couches and chairs scattered about. She sat down in one of them carefully, while Pegasus took a couch and stretched out on it, his long legs taking up most of the space. She would have liked to have been held by him again, but while their parents did trust them to behave themselves without a chaperone, it was best not to press the issue. Sometimes her parents weren't necessarily _certain_ about her relationship with Pegasus. The few times he'd mentioned his artistic ambitions had caused eyebrows to raise among them.

Neither of them paid any attention to the television, both being slightly more interested in one another than anything it could provide. Cyndia smiled briefly at her love. "This really was fun. I'm sorry I wasn't as much help as I could have been."

"Nonsense. You were wonderful. I couldn't have done it all by myself," Pegasus declared. He waved one graceful hand in the air towards her. "We can share it once it's done. Perhaps we'll give a slice to Crocketts as well. He could use a treat once every couple of years."

Cyndia laughed softly, thinking of the quiet, eternally put-upon, and eternally competent bodyguard who followed Pegasus more than his own shadow did. The only place he tended not to be was in the mansion itself, and that was because of the _other_ guards who were stationed all over the place and the built-in security system. She would not have been surprised in the slightest to find that he knew everything they had done that day. The security here was also why her parents trusted her with Pegasus without anyone supervising them. If anything untoward _had_ been in the offing, it would have been cleanly broken up.

Conversation drifted between them, never touching any serious topics. There were movies to be seen, lessons to be learned, futures to be planned, the stuff that any two pair of teens, no matter their status in life, always have to deal with. Neither really cared what they did while with the other, for what was really important was just _being_ with each other at the moment.

"I should really sketch you again," Pegasus murmured. "I think it would come out better this time."

"Pegasus!" Cyndia blushed and laughed a little. "You've already drawn me a dozen times! When are you going to stop?"

"Never! I'll draw you for the rest of our lives!" Pegasus declared dramatically, as if he could ever say anything that wasn't. "You're the greatest work of art the world has ever produced! No one could have ever done one better, not the Egyptians, not the Romans, not the Greeks, _no one_!"

Cyndia flushed again, wishing there were something she could do to quiet him down when he got like this. Luckily, she didn't have to. There was a quiet shadow at the door of the room, and both looked up to see Crocketts standing there.

"Oh, hello, Crocketts!" Pegasus chirped and bounced to his feet as he glanced at his watch. "Come along, dear, the cake should be done!" He turned towards Crocketts quickly. "Care to come and see what we've made?"

The bodyguard had the faintest twitch to his lips, something only someone who knew him incredibly well might have seen. "Of course, sir." Those words were ones he was very used to. They came in extraordinarily handy when dealing with Pegasus.

Cyndia bit her lip a little as they re-entered the kitchen and she saw all over again what they'd done to it. Pegasus had insisted that the maids wouldn't be offended at all by having to clean it up. She wasn't all that certain, but he had to know his help better than she did, after all. Besides, she really had no idea of _how_ to clean something in the first place. The odds were good she'd only make it worse.

Her attention flicked back to Crocketts, wondering what he thought. It was all but impossible to tell as he took it all in, as he was as impassive as stone. "I see you enjoyed yourselves with this little project," was all he said calmly.

"Oh, yes! We might have to do it again the next time they have a day off!" Pegasus declared, pulling the cake out carefully. He set it on the counter and peered closely at it, fumbling to find a toothpick. One careful insertion and retrieval later, he smiled proudly at Cyndia. "Congratulations, my dear! It's a Death By Chocolate cake!"

Cyndia smiled brilliantly. "Is it really ready?"

"Well, more or less," Pegasus waved his fingers a little. "It needs to cool and we need to make the frosting for it as well. But then it will be done."

Crocketts cleared his throat a little. "If you wouldn't object, _I_ could take care of that while you escort Miss Cyndia home. It's nearing dinner time, and I believe her parents want her home for that."

"Oh, yes!" Cyndia gasped softly as she realized exactly what time it was. She'd almost forgotten that they wanted her to be home that night. What kind of a daughter was she? She was just barely going to have time to clean up and change before then, too! "I'm so sorry, Pegasus, I wanted to stay longer…"

"Think nothing of it. I'll see you again tomorrow, after all," Pegasus smiled warmly at her, then nodded slightly at Crocketts. "Yes, that will do nicely."

Cyndia politely smiled at Crocketts as Pegasus took her gently by the arm and started to lead her out. She hoped that the cake would still be around tomorrow. She wanted to have a taste of it, after all. If only the time had been more convenient.

"Thank you so much, Pegasus," she murmured a few minutes later as they settled into the limousine kept for Pegasus' personal use. He'd made a few comments about learning how to drive when he had his next birthday, but she thought he liked being chauffeured around too much to give it up. She hadn't decided if she wanted a license or not yet. But she still had time to make up her mind.

"Everything I do with you is a pleasure, Cyndia," Pegasus said softly, squeezing her hand gently. "I can't imagine what life would be like if you weren't there every day. You don't have to thank me for anything."

She smiled a little. She couldn't imagine what _her_ life would be like if she didn't have Pegasus in it, and she didn't want to. It really wouldn't be worth living without him. She leaned back into the soft cushions and watched the scenery flying by. She would love it if this went on forever, just her and Pegasus. It would, she was certain of it. He was the magic in her life, and she would never let him go.

Never.

**The End**


End file.
